Phoenix flames
by Ujvari
Summary: When Ace and Marco get abducted by marines during a field trip, the raven haired pirate has to put his entire trust in his older Nakama and do a horrible thing to get them both out of prison. Implied Marco x Ace
1. Chapter 1

Hello there.  
Thanks for taking your time to read this little fanfic.  
Since I´m not a native english speaker, there will be some spelling/grammar mistakes here and there.  
I´m having someone proofread this whole thing, who is also a foreign speaker, so feel free to point out remaining mistakes.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

How could they have ended in a situation like this?  
Everything went just fine until these damn marines showed up out of nowhere.  
And now Ace stood here, imprisoned in a Kairoseki cell and soaked in Marcos blood, said person lying right in front of him, screaming his lungs out.

~Flashback~

It was a nice and sunny day when the Moby Dick landed on a small inhabited island to restock their supplies.  
The turn was on Marco and Ace and so the two pirates set off, each one of them carrying a huge but empty backpack for food, bandages, ammunition and all the other stuff a pirate needed in his daily life.  
They also got some special order from several Crewmembers, including their head chef, Haruta and Whitebeard.  
A light chatter had unfolded between the Nakama as they made their way into the island.  
"Say, Marco."  
The blonde man looked to his younger companion, waiting for the question with lazily opened eyes.  
"It´s been some time since you ate that devil fruit, but you never demonstrated any of your new skills to us. Are you sure it wasn´t a fake one and you can still swim?"  
Ace tilted his head with a curious look, his freckles giving him kind of a childish expression.  
They´ve all been quite excited when Marco returned from a raid with a strange looking fruit and it was pretty clear what had fallen into his hands.  
As the Commander of the 1st division had stated to eat that thing, they´ve all waited for the results, which so far hadn´t been shown.  
A smile tugged at Marcos lips.  
"Well, who knows?"  
"Did you try swimming since then?"  
"Don´t you dare toss me into the sea, yoi!"  
Both pirates laughed as they entered the town.

The city really was small, although it had many little shops in some side streets – some of them looking kinda suspicious - where the two could buy everything they needed.  
It was unlikely for the people to recognize their faces in this area, but the life as wanted men had taught them that you could never be cautious enough.  
So they had agreed that one would buy the supplies while the other stood guard outside, watching the surroundings.  
Ace could hear Marco arguing inside of the shop with the owner about the prize of some spices, another thing on the special list from their head chef; as a young girl rounded the corner, only a few feet away from him.  
The way she looked back hounded had Ace dropping his backpack before she reached him.  
"Help me, please!"  
This was all it took for the freckled boy to shield the girl from whatever evil might come after her.  
He could hear the quick breathing as the young woman was seeking protection behind him, felt the shivering hands which hold on his back and saw four figures turn the corner.  
It didn´t took him long to recognize the white uniforms.  
'Shit, the Marines! Why are they...?'  
Ace revolved to take a closer look at the girl who was still gasping for breath.  
So she was either a pirate herself or got into rather big trouble to have the marines chase her.  
"There she is!"  
The shout made Ace turn around to face his unexpected enemies and he readied himself to fight, just when he heard a clicking noise behind his back.

It took the raven haired boy some seconds to wonder what that sudden weight on his wrists could be and some more to realize that his hands were restricted behind his body, altogether made him blink in confusion.  
'Handcuffs?'  
Ace turned pale at that thought, a quick glance behind confirming his speculation.  
He could feel how his power slowly drained from his body, leaving him behind weak and vulnerable.  
So the damn thing was made out of Kairoseki of all things.  
Still putting together all the information, Ace faced the girl he was about to protect, but the smirk on the young face indicated something horrible.  
"You´re one of them!"  
It was more of a statement than a question and with these words the girl pulled out a base cap, which she placed on her head, proudly showing the letters 'MARINE'.  
No, no, no!  
This couldn´t be true!  
Aces thoughts raced through his head, making it impossible to grab a useful reaction.  
Marco was still inside the shop, most likely knowing nothing about the situation his Nakama was in.  
But maybe he had watched everything.  
Maybe he would be able to break Ace free.  
Maybe he was able to get help.  
Maybe the Marines didn´t know about him.  
Maybe they just waited for him to come out and ambush him.  
Should he scream for Marcos help?  
Should he try to distract the attention from him?  
Should he try to run?  
In this moment he was harshly thrown to the ground and a large hand cupped his mouth, making it impossible for Ace to scream.  
Perfect...

Marco handed the owner some Berries, putting the new bought spices in his now full backpack and shouldered the heavy fabric.  
This was the last item on their list, so it should be about time for them to head home to the others.  
The pirate turned around and walked outside of the shop, eyeing the piece of paper with all the needed stuff written on it, to make sure nothing had slipped their minds.  
"Hey, Ace, do you-"  
As Marco lifted his gaze, he froze on the spot.  
Instead of being greeted with a stupid grin of the freckled boy, he was looking at some marine soldiers, which already aimed their guns at him.  
On the ground, face in the dirt, he could make out his Nakama, struggling for his freedom but securely held down by two rather strong looking men.  
Marco also recognized the handcuffs around Aces wrists.  
'Well, shit.'  
It didn´t took him any longer to dash towards their enemies, not fearing the bullets they might shoot at him.  
"Fire!"  
It was this second that the leader gave the commando and Marco was ready to test his devil fruit ability in real combat, when instead of a bullet he was hit with a net.  
Startled by this unexpected move, all Marco could do was to shield himself with his arms to prevent further damage, but the net was already tangling around his ankles.  
Falling to his knees, Marco tried desperately to untwine himself, noticing his power was already leaving his body.  
So that´s how Kairoseki felt to a devil fruit user.  
He was watching the marines come closer with gritted teeth, fully aware that it was impossible for them to know about his ability.  
This could turn out handy later.  
But for now, all Marco could do was watching them pull out a rope and start tying him up, just as they did it with Ace.

The younger pirate was lifted to his feet after his upper body was firmly wrapped in the rough cord, making it impossible to attempt any advances.  
His hands remained restrained by the handcuffs and as Ace turned to see after Marco he felt pity for the other Crewmember.  
At least they were letting him walk on his own in contrast to the blonde.  
The Marines had simply tied the rope above the net, making it impossible for the older pirate to walk with his feet still tangled.  
Now, Marco was carried roughly about his waist by the tallest guy of the small group, still struggling with his feet a little bit.  
A shove to his back made Ace look to the smaller girl beside him, eyeing her calculating.  
"What?", he asked in an impolite tone, which was very rare for him.  
"I said walk, pirate!"  
Her answer made Ace blow air out of his nose.  
But instead of arguing, he knew it was better to just give in with both of them being held back by the Kairoseki.  
So he started to follow the lead of the younger girl he was willing to rescue just minutes ago.  
That´s what he got for being polite and shit...

* * *

Hope you enjoyed and leave a review.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys, welcome back to the second chapter of Phoenix flames.  
I´d like to thank all readers and the few followers so far.  
Have fun.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

They were lead out of town by their abductors, unfortunately to the wrong side of the island, away from the Moby Dick.  
Secretly, Ace had hoped to run into some members of their Crew, but it seemed they were just unlucky this time.  
Instead, he was able to make out the silhouette of another ship and as they stepped closer the young pirate couldn´t believe his eyes.  
Right in front of him floated a full equipped warship in all his glory, white sails blowing in the light breeze and scattered through the whole place were numerous soldiers, attending their different duties.  
The raven haired felt his heart drop.  
It was impossible for their Crew to assume something had happened so far and if they didn´t hurry, Marco and he would be long gone.  
Another shove to his back made Ace realize that he had stopped and he cursed to himself for showing how much he was impressed at the sight.  
The arrogant smile on the girls face didn't help much either.  
Slower than before, Ace sat in motion again, feeling like a prey walking into the lion's den.  
He could feel the gaze of the other marines, how they eyed them warily, but not brave enough to approach.  
The freckled boy stopped again, facing one of the governments dog and making him jump out of surprise.  
He ignored the poking to his back, most likely the young girl, who wanted to test her strength over and over.

Marco knew what crossed Aces mind the moment the pirate stopped for the second time.  
'Don't do it, Ace...'  
He begged silently, already knowing this wasn´t going to end well.  
'Think first, yoi...'  
It was impossible for them to do anything wise in this situation, except obeying and looking how things would turn out from here on.  
To attempt to escape now was doomed to fail.  
When the girl poked his Nakama once more, Marco knew it was over with the boys' patience.  
Only seconds later, Ace had turned around, smashing his forehead against the head of the smaller girl, making her stumble to the ground.  
He saw the other two men immediately approach the freckled boy, who furiously kicked at his opponents, teeth clenched and snarling at the marines.  
Marco wondered if Ace wanted to be hit by a bullet and if he still knew that his body became attackable due to the handcuffs.  
Well, if he forgot, it should be enough of a reminder as one of the marines tackled him and Ace hit the stony ground face-on.  
The blonde could hear a painful grunt from his friend and shook his head lightly.  
This caused the marine, who had carried him the way along, to tighten his grip until Marco had to groan himself.  
"Don´t you dare try anything stupid!"  
"Don´t worry, will not."  
He watched as Ace was picked up just as he was and got carried the rest of the way, still resisting the strong grip.

A bulge formed in his throat as Marco and he got carried onto the ship and inside without further hesitation or delay.  
Some level downstairs, the only light was coming from some old bulbs, hanging disregardful from the ceiling.  
It didn´t take long to recognize the cells along their way and Ace felt his heart rate increase.  
He didn´t want to be locked up, maybe never seeing the light of day ever again.  
Before he could form a real thought, his body started trashing again, legs kicking out in an useless attempt to free himself from the strong grip.  
"Let us go now!"  
His demand remained unanswered.  
"I´m gonna burn the whole ship to ashes!"  
Threatening didn´t seem to work either.  
"You´ll regret this!"  
Ace heard the creaking sound of an opening cell door.  
Panic completely took control over his mind as he was carelessly thrown inside the cold room, landing hard on his stomach on iron bars, which even extended over the floor.  
As Marcos weight landed onto him, the younger pirate couldn´t hold back a painful yelp.  
Had the Commander of the 1st division always been this heavy?  
Another creaking noise indicated the closing of the door and Ace could hear a key being turned, leaving both of them locked up in an iron cell on a marine warship, still enchained with Kairoseki and tied up.  
Ace felt like crying.  
It was only for Marcos voice that he didn´t give in to that desire.

"Did you calm down, Ace?", the blonde asked quietly.  
The marines, who had brought them down, were gone but they´ve let their guard down before and saw what had happened.  
As he got a nod as an answer, the pirate sighed relieved.  
Good.  
The last thing he needed was an Ace who would only hurt himself more.  
With this settled, he started to roll off the younger man, giving him the opportunity to sit up if he wanted to.  
Of course, Ace didn´t have to be asked twice.  
It took him less than a second to be on his feet again, wandering the cell nervously with a somewhat helpless look.  
"What should we do? This is just horrible!"  
Marco couldn´t avoid rolling his eyes.  
He sometimes wondered how the boy had survived up until now on his own.  
"How about we start with removing the rope? Sounds good, yoi?"  
Ace stopped his aimless roam and glared down at him.  
Marco couldn´t hold back a slight laughter.  
He´d been in situations much worse than these and back then, he neither had Ace, nor his ability.  
He watched as his Nakama knelt down beside him and started to inspect the cord with more curiosity.  
"Looks like I can undo it.", Ace stated after a few more views at the neatly tied knot.  
"You´ll have to, ´cause I can´t."  
Marco waved with his hands, which were uselessly tied to each side of his body about the upper arm.  
Even though he was able to move them better as Ace, he couldn´t do anything as they were still caught in the fine-meshed web.  
He watched his comrade turn around.

Aces back was facing Marco as he sat down and crossed his legs, sliding closer to the blonde pirate until he could feel the rough fabric against his fingers.  
He took the knot in his grip and started to fumble for the right thread to untie it.  
"Not that one, more to the left. The other left."  
"That´s not helping, Marco!"  
It took Aces whole concentration to build a fictive image of the knot in front of his eyes and he was glad the other kept quiet now.  
The whole thing wasn´t so easy with his hands cuffed to his back and being unable to see what he was doing, his own rope restricting his movements even more.  
It was already hard enough to distinguish the different threads, but Ace was able to grab hold of the important string, immediately feeling the knot loosen.  
"There we go..."  
Another skilled pull and that thing finally released his Nakama.  
Turning around with an arrogant smile on the freckled face, Ace was met with the almost same expression from his blonde friend, although Marco still looked kind of sleepy.  
"Well done, yoi."  
With these words, Marco finally sat up, taking a closer look at the tangled net about his ankles, shaking off the remains of the rope without further notice.  
Ace made a bit of room to move for the older male as the pirate started to untwine himself from the irritating web.

It took a few seconds before he was able to arrange the mess around his feet but finally, Marco managed to stick out a hand, smiling triumphantly.  
The rest of his body followed the lead, throwing the web disregardful into a corner as soon as he got out.  
Frowning, Marco regarded his hands first and Ace afterwards, who just stared back with a questioning look.  
"Something wrong?"  
"How long does it take the devil fruit power to return?"  
"Immediately, why do you ask?"  
"I guess we have a problem then."  
"Don´t tell me..."  
"Yep, seems like this whole cell is made out of that stuff, yoi."  
Marco couldn´t help but sigh as Ace rammed his head into the ground in despair.  
"Stay like this, will you?"  
He knelt down behind his Nakama and started to untie the raven haired boy, even though he wasn´t so sure about this being a good idea, considering the amount of self inflicted injuries Ace had shown in the last half an hour.  
He could hear a quiet mumbling from the younger man and chuckled.  
Maybe his friend was able to read minds?  
The rope dropped to the ground and as Marco felt the younger pirate sit up, he pushed his head back down.  
"Stay like this, will you?"  
"You don´t have to repeat yourself."  
"Then listen."  
Marco cowered lower to inspect the Kairoseki handcuffs with a skeptical look.  
"This seems kinda difficult, yoi."  
This time it was Ace who couldn´t hold back a sigh.  
"Just take them off?"  
"Already at it."

Ace blinked in surprise as Marcos backpack was displaced beside him.  
"Don´t tell me you still have that thing?"  
The older pirate gave a halfhearted shrug.  
"The marines tied me up with it on my back, so of course, I still have it. Where´s yours?"  
Aces mouth dropped into a frown at the question.  
"Probably still in front of that damn shop. I dumped it to help the girl, who turned out to be a decoy."  
"So that´s what happened..."  
"Mostly..."  
Still sulking, Ace watched Marco dig into the contents of the fabric, pushing spices and ammunition aside, which both were totally useless in their current situation.  
"Found anything helpful yet?"  
"Don´t be so impatient. I know it´s somewhere in here...", the older male responded.  
Another thing on their shopping list had been picklocks for Haruta, which Marco intended to use now.  
He wasn´t as good as the 12th division commander, but it should be enough to get Ace out of the handcuffs.  
Right under the knives for the head chef, Marco finally found said picklocks and took them out, crouching down behind Ace again.  
"Let´s see how subtle I am, yoi."  
'Although I wish, it would be brighter in here.'

Still huddled on the ground, Ace was waiting for Marco to unchain him, his eyes wandering around the cubicle, finding nothing of interest.  
"I never thought we would end up in here, you know?"  
"Hm."  
"And we were almost returning to the ship."  
"Hm."  
"Do you think they miss us by now?"  
"Maybe."  
"I fear the marines already set sail."  
"That would be bad."  
"Are you even listening?"  
"Not really."  
It took the blonde pirate some time, but when he at last heard the clicking sound, he let out a relieved gasp.  
He sure felt more comfortable with his Nakama freed from these damn things, regardless of his urge to hurt himself.  
Marco tossed the handcuffs careless into the corner as Ace sat upright, rubbing his wrists.  
Now that both of them were able to move unhindered, the pirates could concentrate on breaking out of this prison...

* * *

Hope you enjoyed and leave a review.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello and welcome to chapter 3.  
Again, I want to thank all people who enjoy reading this fanfiction.  
Hope you´ll have fun.  
I´d also like to thank azab for commenting the whole thing.  
It makes me very happy :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

Marco realized that his idea of escaping differed pretty much from Aces way of doing things.  
After he had tried to unlock the door multiple times and always failed so far, the freckled pirate took matters in his own hands, namely going berserk against the door, kicking and hitting and shouting at the damn thing to open up already.  
Both methods had worked just as well so far, in fact not at all.  
The blonde man had watched the little outburst with caring eyes, paying attention that the other Crewmember won´t hurt himself in his aggressive riot, until Ace started to cool down and was now panting heavily against the Kairoseki bars, supporting his weight with one arm.  
Marco pushed himself off the wall and stepped towards his backpack, peering thoughtful at the contents and finally sitting down next to it.  
As he started to unpack the insides, he noticed the confused look from his Nakama.  
"They´re quite dumb for locking us up with so much equipment, yoi."  
The pirate winked at his younger companion and continued to spread all items in front of him, thinking about how to put them to best use.

Ace walked over, sitting down next to Marco, who had propped his head with his elbow, obviously trying to form a plan and he knew that the sleepy look belied his thoughts.  
The freckled boy peered at the objects, finding nothing helpful.  
"Let´s just break the damn door."  
"You already tried that, Ace."  
"Any other ideas?"  
"Just let me think for a second."  
"You´re always thinking, Marco!"  
"That´s not a bad habit, yoi."  
Ace crossed his arms and sulked.  
"Well, I don´t see anything suitable for our escape, unless you want to threat these marines with cayenne pepper..."  
A quiet sigh escaped Marcos lips.  
The raven haired sure had a point there.  
He just was about to admit defeat, when both heard a door open up.  
Turning around, the two pirates were greeted with a familiar appearance.  
The girl from earlier eyed them from the distance, distrust written all over her.  
A patch stuck to her forehead, where Ace had previously smashed her.  
"What´s wrong little marine? Want some cayenne pepper?"  
Ace couldn´t hold back his laughter as he saw her wrinkle up her nose in disgust.  
"This could actually work, Marco."  
"Be quiet, pirate. I just wanted to be sure everything is alright."  
Marco sat up, listening attentively.  
"Why bother with us, yoi?"  
"Be quiet! My mission is to deliver you at the court unharmed. It´s annoying enough that you apparently got rid of the rope, so stay put now!"  
With these words, she slammed the door shut again.

"Is it just me or do these marines get weirder and weirder every time we meet them?"  
Ace shook his head incomprehensible, revolving to the older male, who had already started to repack the bag.  
"What´s wrong?"  
"I know how to get out of here."  
"That´s great, mind to explain?"  
"I´ll show you, give me a second."  
Nodding, the younger pirate waited patiently for Marco to finish his doing.  
This included not just the packing, but also the tossing of the bag, until it looked like someone had spilled its contents unintended throughout the entire cell.  
Ace gave his friend a worried look.  
"Are you alright, Marco?"  
The blonde turned to face him and the freckled boy felt a shiver run down his spine when he saw the knife was the only item which remained in Marcos hand.  
"Perfectly fine, now stab me."  
"What!?"  
Aces jaw dropped at the sudden request from his Nakama.  
A few seconds passed before he started eying him suspiciously, searching for a clue of a joke in the others face, but unable to find any.  
"You´re kidding me, right?"  
"I mean it, yoi."  
Handing him over the knife they´d just bought, Marco looked into Aces eyes, completely without doubt.  
The raven haired couldn´t quite understand what his comrade wanted to achieve with that, his gaze locked onto the shining object.  
"Why should I?"  
The question sounded kind of weak and the younger pirate could hear his voice trembling.  
The thought alone of stabbing Marco was horrible to him.  
Why should he want to purposely hurt the blonde?

"I´ll be fine. Don´t worry."  
"How can I not worry? I won´t stab you!"  
"Just do it."  
"No!"  
"Give me back the knife, I´ll do it myself."  
"Marco!"  
Pressing the cold steel firmly to his chest, Ace held the thing out of his friends reach.  
"You´ve gone nuts!"  
"No, I need you to go nuts, yoi."  
"What the hell is wrong with you?"  
"Just mess me up a little bit."  
"DAFUQ?!"  
"Ace, listen to me."  
The older pirate paused as soon as he had managed to catch Aces attention, although his friend was still looking at him as if he was some kind of a madman.  
A sigh escaped the blonde man.  
Maybe he really was.

Marco moved his hands in a comforting manner, distracting Aces thoughts from the knife.  
"Just listen.", he repeated.  
"I am listening..."  
"We need to get out of here and it has to be soon."  
"You´re right."  
"The girl just said it´s her duty to deliver us unharmed."  
"I heard her. What´s the point?"  
"If you hurt me, she is forced to take action, yoi."  
"Go on."  
"They don´t know about my devil fruit, so we can assume, me getting locked up with you was nothing but a coincidence."  
"And?"  
"They won´t regard me as dangerous as you since I don´t possess an ability and will hopefully fall in our trap. As soon as they get me out of this cell, we win."  
Ace knitted his eyebrows in deep thought.  
The idea wasn´t totally bad, but there was one thing he didn´t really like about it and that was the part of hurting Marco.  
"You know, I won´t sacrifice you for my freedom..."  
"Don´t worry, I won´t die on you, yoi."  
Marco paused again as he saw the questioning look from his Nakama, thinking about how to go on.  
He wasn´t sure how he should explain things from here on to the freckled boy, since he didn´t understood fully either.  
So he resorted to the last option.  
"Just trust me."

"Trust you?"  
"Yep..."  
A lazy smile tugged at the others lips, what oddly enough comforted the younger pirate to no end.  
He could feel the tension from earlier leave his body and his shoulders sagged a bit.  
"I´ve always trusted you, Marco..."  
The raven haired fixed his eyes on the knife, examining it carefully.  
He could hurt the older pirate pretty bad with that thing.  
Still, he wanted him to do it.  
It sure showed the trust Marco put in him.  
His head felt almost empty as the young pirate looked up to his friend again.  
"Okay, just tell me what I have to do..."  
He still didn´t like the idea though.  
'I must be totally insane for doing this...'

Marcos reassuring smile widened at the statement from his comrade, eyes closing even more.  
Calmly, he walked over to the door, leaning his backside against the Kairoseki bars, all while being watched carefully by his Nakama.  
He waved Ace to come closer, which was obeyed instantly.  
The blonde male pointed at the knife.  
"It needs to look as life-threatening as possible, yoi."  
He could see Ace swallow dryly, but continued his explanation.  
"Stab me here, here and here."  
The older pirate pointed out different parts of his body, mostly the stomach region.  
"And cut me here and here."  
Ace shook his head as Marcos finger showed him throat and forehead.  
"I won´t do that."  
"It´s just a cut. We need as much blood as possible, remember? And this will bleed like fuck."  
He could see the uncertainty in the others look and waited for a sign of approval.

It took Ace some time to clear up his mind, if he could take the responsibility of hurting Marco so nasty.  
He came to the conclusion that his companion seemed collected and as if he knew what he was doing.  
"Okay, go on..."  
The freckled pirate felt a little bit shaky to his knees and hoped the other didn´t notice so far.  
He didn´t know the tone of his voice already gave him away to Marco.  
As a warm hand was placed above his own, the young boy looked up in surprise, only then realizing that he had dropped his gaze.  
He was met with the lazily opened eyes of Marco, who looked as calm as always.  
Ace bit his lower lip and nodded, earning a nod in return.

Marco continued, still resting his hand on the others.  
"When I tell you to go sit in the corner, I need you to pretend that you´re totally lethargic. It´s a little show we´ll put up for the marines, yoi."  
"So you want me to do nothing?"  
"Exactly."  
He knew very well that this was harder for Ace than everything else he had asked so far, but it was necessary for their plan to succeed, that the freckled boy would play along.  
"The marines won´t open the door if you´re on the move and unharmed.", the older pirate explained.  
It seemed like his Nakama didn´t get the importance of the last part, so Marco pointed it out, just to be on the safe side.  
"How about we hurt me too?"  
This time it was the blondes turn to look at his friend surprised, blinking with disbelief.  
The statement sure left him dumbfounded for a few seconds until he reclaimed his speech.  
"Why should we?  
"Because it will look more realistic like this, won´t it?"  
"But you won´t heal..."  
"Neither will you."  
"I will, yoi."  
"Yeah, I will too, eventually."  
The younger pirate gave a little shrug.  
Marco shook his head.  
"You don´t understand me. I will heal instantly."  
"You will WHAT!?"  
"Hush!"

Ace shut his mouth as he saw the nervous look Marco threw at the door.  
They didn´t want to startle the marine girl to soon.  
The blonde turned around again, as he heard the freckled boy speak up, now in a more quiet tone.  
"What do you mean, you will heal instantly? Just like that?"  
"Just like that."  
Marco could see admiration and disbelief in the others gaze, although the latter dominated.  
He smiled as Ace nodded slowly.  
"Okay, it´s all about trust, right? So I go sit in the corner and then?"  
"I´ll handle the rest. Now start with the cuts."  
"With the cuts, got it..."

* * *

Hope you enjoyed and leave a review.


	4. Chapter 4

Hi again.  
So, here´s chapter 4, which means you´ve got only one more to go.  
Thanks to all readers and especially to azab for the comment :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

The raven haired hesitated again as Marco lowered his head for him to adjust the knife more properly.  
His hands felt shaky, now that the comforting touch from his Nakama was gone.  
Lifting his suddenly heavy arms up, Ace put the blade on the others skin and closed his eyes to blank out the sight he was about to behold.  
With a muffled sound, he proceeded to pull the knife across the so far unscarred skin, producing only a shallow cut for the beginning.  
Coming to a stop after a few inches, he was forced to open his eyes again to look how far he had sliced precisely.  
The freckled boy felt sick to his stomach as he saw the blood already dripping from Marcos chin onto the exposed chest.

"Ace, breath for me, yoi..."  
The older pirate was relieved when he heard a sharp gasp for air from his younger friend.  
It would be pretty bad if Ace would pass out now.  
"It´s not that painful, go on."  
Marco had to squint one eye to prevent the blood from trickling in.  
Apart from that he felt fine, but judging the stare Ace threw at him, it looked already pretty bad.  
The commander proceeded to bend his head to one side, revealing his neck to the younger one to make the cut easier.  
This time, it took the freckled boy even longer to attach the knife to the skin, hand already trembling.  
Marco couldn´t resist the urge to cup one hand around Aces, tightening the weak grip around the handle.  
As the younger pirate looked up astonished, the blonde simply pulled the knife down, drawing a horrified scream from his Nakama.  
Marco clenched his teeth to hold back a cry himself.  
'I knew why I wanted Ace to do it...'  
The older male exhaled compressed.  
The whole thing was more difficult if he had to do it himself and this cut sure was deeper and more painful than the first.  
He could feel a warm fluid drenching his jacket and risked a glance down.  
This went better than expected.  
Half his chest, including the biggest part of his tattoo, was already covered in blood and Marco realized that he may have overdone it a bit when he started to feel a little dizzy.  
They had to get over with this quickly.

"Okay, now for the stabs."  
Ace tried desperately to stop the shaking, which took control over his body, the knife still in his hand.  
He would like to throw that damn thing away so bad and stitch Marco up, but he knew that both things were impossible.  
At least two hours must have passed since they got ambushed and if the girl hadn´t lied to them, the ship had already set sail, which was even worse.  
The young man gathered himself together.  
"Ready, Marco?"  
"Just don´t kill me, yoi."  
Giving a short nod, Ace aimed the knife at the blonde's stomach, delivering the first blow, but instantly regretting his open eyes as he saw the blade enter his friend's body.  
He turned as pale as a ghost, when he heard Marcos restrained scream, pulling the knife back instinctively, which only caused the wound to bleed heavily.  
The freckled boy clung to the handle as if his life depended on it, now glad to be able to just hold onto something, while watching horrified how the red liquid flew from the fresh injury.

Marco grabbed hold of the bars behind his back, pain rushing through him as the blade entered and left his body in merely a second.  
This hurt more than he had anticipated, but it was still too soon to curl into a ball, so he resisted the urge to slump down.  
The commander regretted letting out that scream as he saw his friends expression alter from confident to frightened and for a brief moment he wasn´t sure if the raven haired wouldn´t really lose it.  
"Ace, pull yourself together!"  
Marco noticed the change in his voice too late as it gave away the pain he already was in.  
He could feel Aces gaze upon him, but couldn´t force himself to smile, his face twitching in agony.  
Holding up one finger, the older man indicated for his Nakama to listen.  
"Just one more will be enough, okay? Forget about the third."  
If the marines didn´t take the bait, this could turn out pretty bad for him and with all that blood leaking out of his body, he was sure he would either die in this cell or get treated by their enemy right away if they wanted him to live.  
So two stabs should be enough to create the illusion of a fight to the death with his own friend.  
Bracing himself for the next strike, Marco gripped the Kairoseki bars once more and straightened up, closing his eyes firmly and awaiting the pain to rise again.

Ace could feel tears welling up at the corners of his eyes as he saw how his blonde friend tried to hide the pain he was in, but his whole posture already betrayed him.  
It was obvious that the other would reach his limit soon and he was still asking for a second wound.  
The freckled pirate had to decide quickly, whether to obey or to throw their plan overboard and aid Marco instead, currently tending to the latter.  
As he lowered the knife, a hand grabbed his shoulder roughly, yanking him forward.  
Startled by this move, the raven haired had to support himself with one hand against the bars to not lose his balance.  
He looked up in Marcos face, which was only an inch away from his own now, noses almost touching.  
A lump formed in his throat and Ace swallowed heavy, eyes still locked with the others lazy, but pained, gaze.  
"Don´t let me down, yoi."  
The freckled boy winced at the sound of Marcos voice, tears finally making their way across his cheeks.  
Even badly injured, his friend managed to be as calm as usual, acting like it wasn´t a big deal to be stabbed by one of his younger brothers.  
But Ace knew otherwise when a picture of Luffy, being forced to hurt him, appeared in front of his eyes.  
A sob escaped his lips and he could feel the flow of his tears increasing, until a hand was placed around his chin, lifting his head up again.

"Oi, oi, Ace... Crying was supposed to be my part, you know?"  
Marco gave it his all to keep standing upright, even though he felt dangerously light-headed, his vision already becoming blurred.  
The older pirate knew he wouldn´t be able to endure this much longer.  
"Just one more and I promise it´s over for you."  
With these words, he let go of Aces chin, giving the teen more space to move, which wasn´t appreciated.  
Marco could feel the others body as close as before and when the younger pirate bumped into him, his lips curled up in a little smile.  
The blonde placed a protective arm around Aces waist, drawing his companion closer and allowing him to rest against his bloodied chest.  
It remained quiet for a few seconds.  
"You asleep, Ace?"  
"No..."  
"So it´s not your narcolepsy kicking in?"  
"No..."  
"That´s good, yoi."  
Limbs trembling heavy, Marco breathed irregular and short against the top of Aces head, gaze slowly becoming dull.  
When the commander thought about it, dying didn´t seem all bad right now, although he´d rather sail the seas with his Nakama some more.  
Stroking the black hair absent, Marco felt the smaller boy tense up and shortly after, the knife intruded into his guts again.  
He closed his lips tight in an useless attempt to prevent the blood from leaving his mouth, well aware of the freckled pirate in his arms, but ended up spitting something out nonetheless.

Ace didn´t even flinch when he heard Marco cough and felt the muscles on the abdomen contract at the same time, knowing, but not caring, about the blood that splattered across his shoulder and back.  
He was already drenched in the red fluid leaking from the previous cuts and really couldn´t care less about it.  
Still crying softly, the younger pirate retrieved the knife carefully from the others stomach, not wanting to hurt him any further and after that, pressed himself even firmer against the broad chest, which rose and fell in an unsteady pace.  
He had granted Marcos wish, whether it would be his last one was still to be shown.  
As the knees of the blonde pirate suddenly gave way and the taller body started to sag, Ace was fast to support his friends´ weight, helping him to sit down without further injury.  
Kneeling between the others legs, the freckled boy held the older male upright by his shoulders, pushing them against the bars.  
A short look in the pale face indicated what he already feared.  
Marco was only half consciousness, eyelids flickering every now and then, stare empty and lips still parted for easier air supply.  
'Fuck this shit!'  
Ace grabbed his Nakama even tighter, pulling him closer, only to slam him back with a certain yank, ignoring the fact that his actions drew even more blood from the hurt pirate.  
"MARCO!"

Addressed person snapped out of his daze, when his back hit the bars painfully, head straightening up due to the impact.  
He really had blacked out a few seconds ago, unable to recall his collapse and now slightly confused to find himself on the ground.  
Marcos gaze wandered around the room, until it settled on his friend, a weak smile finding his way onto his lips.  
Right, they had a plan...  
"You still have the knife, yoi?"  
A short nod from the younger man and the bloodied object was offered to him, which he didn´t take from the others hand.  
He tilted his head sideways, indicating a direction.  
"Toss it outside."  
Ace obeyed instantly, not one word leaving his throat.  
Both heard the metallic sound when the blade hit the floor, sliding away a little distance and leaving red stains in its path.  
"Good."  
Marco turned back, peering at Aces appearance thoughtfully.  
A little snicker escaped his lips.  
"Look at you... You´re a mess. Pops will be mad at me."  
"Marco, don´t make this harder than it already is... Please."  
The commander had originally planned to smear some of his blood onto the freckled boy since the whole scene had to look like a fight, but considering their little cuddle from before, Ace looked already battered enough, front side completely covered in the red fluid.  
"Okay. Corner."  
He watched Ace stand up quickly and sit down in the appointed place, pulling his legs to his chest and embracing them with his arms tight.  
It seemed like the teen had somehow made up his mind to just stick with Marcos plan for now, which was much appreciated.  
"And remember, Ace. Whatever happens, don´t move from that spot, yoi."  
"I got you. Just carry on, so you can fucking heal already!"

The older pirate took a deep breath, coughing again as the pain flared up unexpectedly and he placed an arm around his stomach, covering one of the cuts.  
After he had calmed down again, Marco gave it a second try, this time succeeding to keep the air down.  
A tortured scream erupted from his throat, as soon as he was able to build up enough compression in his abdomen to actually produce a louder sound.  
It hurt like hell, but he had to go on...  
A second and a third cry left his lips, both pained and heart shattering like the one before and Marco could feel his eyes tearing up.  
Finally allowed to break down into sobs and whimpers, he heard the door swing open and an alarmed girly voice filled the room.  
"What´s all this shouting about? Didn´t I tell you to stay-HAW!"  
It took the marine one second to stumble to Marcos side.  
Hands holding shakily onto the Kairoseki bars, she threw a closer look at the scene in front of her.  
The inside was a total mess, blood everywhere, a knife on the ground, the reasonable pirate resting slumped against the cell door, panting heavily and the aggressive devil with the black hair sitting in the opposite corner, totally motionless.  
"Help..."  
"Shit shit SHIT!"  
The blonde watched the little girl freak out from the corners of his eyes, fighting down a successful grin when she stormed out, screaming for help.  
At least, that went just smooth.

They were surrounded by marines in less than a minute, two men aiming their guns at Ace, who didn´t move from his spot.  
He had to pull this through in order to save Marco!  
If that included being threatened with pistols, he didn´t mind.  
The freckled boy watched carefully as the door was opened and his friend fell lifeless to the ground, now that the supporting halt was gone.  
Either his Nakama was an excellent actor or he had passed out again.  
Ace felt the urge to check upon the blonde, but resisted before his body could even twitch.  
'Stay lethargic, stay lethargic, stay lethargic'  
It was some kind of a mantra, keeping him sane in this horrible situation, where he had promised to not even move a single muscle.  
'Stay lethargic, stay lethargic, fuck, Marco, do something!'  
The older man was picked up by his limbs and heaved onto a small barrow, all while remaining totally unresponsive, eyes closed and face almost emotionless, besides from the slightly pained look.  
Ace was sure now, that the blonde had blacked out because of the blood loss.  
Cursing to himself and biting his lower lip, he went over the options he had left, but came up without any results.  
Panicking, for what felt like the hundredths time today, he watched the door getting closed again and as the key was turned, new tears were running down Aces freckled cheeks.  
His head dropped onto his knees, heavy sobs shivering the huddled frame, as the whole extent sank into his mind.  
Just what had he done?  
Passing out seemed more and more like a tempting option, simply diving deep into a black sea of painless unconsciousness, instead of-  
When Ace heard a stunned scream from outside the cell, his head snatched up again, unbelieving eyes taking in the sight of his friend on... blue fire.  
"MARCO!"

* * *

Hope you enjoyed and leave a review.


	5. Chapter 5

So, guys.  
Here´s the last chapter for this story.  
It was really fun writing in english, although I´m not pleased with how the ending turned out...  
I had planed to give a more detailed fighting scene, but failed because of a too tiny vocabulary...  
*slumps*  
Mabe I´ll redo it, when I´m more experienced in this whole stuff.  
Nevertheless, I hope all readers enjoyed this and my special thanks goes to azab and Mirre98 for commenting.  
You really kept me going :D

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

Marcos vision had blurred to the point, where he wasn´t even able to distinguish Aces paler skin color from the dark surroundings.  
He closed his eyes fully, since it didn´t make much difference.  
So this was what dying felt like...  
It was oddly calming and less painful than he had imagined it to be.  
Of course, he had received many wounds during the battles he had fought for his pops, but he´d never been as close to death as now.  
'Must be due to the fact that I normally try to avoid injuries...'  
Marco chuckled inwardly, too weak to produce any audible sound.  
When the door was opened, his body sagged completely to the ground, only to be lifted up shortly afterwards.  
So they had finally decided to get him out of that damn cell with its Kairoseki bars.  
'Took them long enough...'  
As Marco was placed on the barrow, he could already feel the fire trying to ascend and with a relieved sigh, he let his ability roam freely across his body, what drew a surprised scream from one of his enemies.  
The pain vanished instantly as the flames licked at his wounds, leaving behind only a tickling sensation on his skin, where the cuts and stabs had been.  
Eyes opening lazy, Marco sat up when he heard his name being called and took a closer look at his surroundings, fire still dancing on his body.  
"Six..."  
Including the girl with the patch, he was facing six marines, which he didn´t consider much of a threat since all were looking at him as if he just resurrected.  
What he had kinda done.  
A smile tugged at his lips and he pushed himself off the barrow, landing on his feet gently and forcing the marines to take a step backwards.  
The shock seemed to wear off as a weapon was fired and Marco felt two new spots tingle, just above his heart and his eye.  
He turned to face the marine, whose gun barrel was still smoking, tilting his head to one side and throwing him a casual look, until a maniac smile spread across his features, flames still covering the shot eye.  
"Try again, yoi."  
It was the girl who reacted first, starting to scream at the top of her lungs and turning on her heels to retreat as fast as she could.  
Running for their dear lives, the remaining soldiers let go of their weapons, which clattered to the ground unvalued and useless.  
The corridor was cleared in mere seconds.  
"That was rather easy..."  
He had expected at least some struggles and maybe even a fierce fight.

Ace was still sitting there, unable to believe his own eyes.  
Was that really Marco in front of him?  
The same Marco who was at the brink of death just one moment ago?  
He stood up, almost tripping over his own feet as he made his way to the locked door, grabbing onto the Kairoseki bars and inspecting the blonde with wide eyes.  
The other turned to him with a lazy smile on his lips, flames slowly fading from his face and body, revealing a totally unharmed eye and healed skin, although the blood remained.  
Aces jaw dropped at the sight he was allowed to behold, feeling shaky to his knees.  
"Marco Taicho..."  
The older pirate laughed.  
"What´s with that respectful tone, Ace? Something wrong, yoi?"  
The freckled boy gulped dryly and forced himself to stop staring at Marco as if he was some kind of a caged animal.  
Straightening his back, he tried to hide his highly visible admiration towards the commander.  
"No, never mind. Just get me out."  
"Promptly."  
Ace watched his friend bend down and pick up a key, which must have been dropped by one of the marines.  
It took less than a second to open the door and the raven haired jumped practically into freedom, stretching his arms high above his head and smiling like an idiot, still covered in by now mostly dried up blood.  
"So, what´s next, Marco? Wanna have some fun? Just the two of us?"  
"Yeah, sure. Let's sink this damn ship!"

* * *

"Fire!"  
"Here too!"  
"Put it out!"  
"Water, quick!"  
"They blew up the kitchen!"  
"Get some buckets!"  
"They destroyed all!"  
"Restrain those goddamn Logias!"  
"They threw the Kairoseki overboard!"  
Ace chuckled under his breath about the scared and desperate shouts coming from their enemies.  
His feet were dangling from one of the yards of the main mast, where he had retreated to, to have a better view of the whole situation below.  
A few soldiers were aiming their guns at him, firing as if it would magically start working when enough shots had hit him.  
So far, his body had always turned into flames, allowing the bullets to pass right through him.

"You know, I´m actually a Zoan type..."  
The raven haired tilted his head slightly to his side.  
Marco perched right next to him, balancing himself with a flaming tail, covered in blue and gold, which he had just grown.  
"Figured that."  
It was still a little disturbing to watch parts of his friends' body turn into blue fire, whenever he was hit.  
"All by yourself, yoi?"  
Ace turned around fully, now with a somewhat pissed expression on his freckled face.  
"What do you mean, 'all by yourself', huh?"  
A bullet went through his chest, turning part of his pectoral muscle into flames and illuminating his childish features.  
Marco had to hold back his laughter at the more or less sweet sight, apart from all the blood, which at this point wasn´t only from their escape anymore.  
The blondes´ leg engulfed in flames as a shot hit him.  
"Nothing, nothing, really. Oi, Ace, mind to shoot that guy down?"  
The older pirate pointed to a marine, who attempted to climb the mast.  
"Sure. Higan."  
A scream was heard and the enemy fell back onto the deck of the ship, where in the meantime hell had broken loose.

"Don´t let them chit-chat like that! Blow this goddamn chicken out of the sky!"  
Ace saw a vein pop up on Marcos temple.  
"I´M A FUCKING PHOENIX, YOI!"  
"Pfffffffft! Hahahahaha!"  
"WHAT´S SO FUNNY!?"  
"What day of the week do chickens hate most?"  
"No, you wouldn't-"  
"Fry-day! Hahaha! Wait, I´ve got another one!"  
"Don´t you dare, Ace!"  
With these words, the flames spread across Marcos whole appearance, turning his feet into talons and reshaping his face into those of a bird, followed by the rest of his body.  
He picked at his comrade with Haki, but not strong enough to actually hurt the boy and threw himself off the yard afterwards.  
Ace watched the creature fly gently over the ship, clawing angry at unlucky marines here and there and throwing some overboard.  
'A mythical Zoan, huh? That´s kinda cool, never met one before.'  
Ace pushed himself off, falling towards the deck in a rapid speed and landing with a deep thump on the wood.  
"Advance!"  
A smile spread across his face as the marines approached.  
This could turn out to be real fun.  
"Hiken!"

* * *

The warship was nothing but a fuming wreckage in the distance.  
Ace looked above, where he could see only blue feathers and flames, right and left, where Marcos wings flapped up and down in a steady pace and front, where the tail swayed from side to side.  
The Phoenix had picked him up in the exact moment, where the younger pirate lost his patience and simply set the whole ship on fire to get rid of the damn marines all at once.  
But nobody could say he hadn´t warned them previously.  
The freckled boy was now carried by the talons, which clasped both his upper arms with Haki.  
He tried to revolve to his friend, but was by far too immobile to do so.  
"Oi, Marco! If you´re not letting me ride on your back, at least carry me forwards!"  
It remained quiet.  
"Marco!"  
Silence.  
"You listening, Marco?"  
A piercing shriek sent shivers down Aces spine and the younger pirate threw his head back to catch a glimpse of his friend.  
Dark-circled eyes watched him lazily and the raven haired understood.  
"You can´t speak?"  
Another screech, this time lower.  
"Haha, but I guess better bird vocal cords than bird brain. Ow, Marco! Stop scratching me!"

* * *

"We´re under attack!"  
"Stop screaming nonsense, Thatch!"  
"But Haruta, look!"  
"What the hell is that?"  
"Isn´t it Ace?"  
"Yeah, and the other thing?"  
"Don´t know, looks like a bird carrying him or something like that..."  
"Duck!"  
"Haruta, that´s definitely not a duck..."  
"No, DUCK!"  
Both commanders managed to dodge Aces struggling feet in the last moment, as the weird thing crashed on the Moby Dick, sending their comrade tumbling across the deck in blue and red flames, until the bundle came to a halt at the railing near Whitebeard.

It was the freckled boy, who managed to sit up first.  
"Are you too dumb to soft-land?"  
Thatch, Haruta and some other pirates, including Whitebeard, watched wide-eyed, the last person to a lesser extent, as the flames wore off.  
Only seconds later, Marco got up.  
"You´re damn heavy, yoi!"  
"What? Now you tell me I´m fat?"  
"You have no idea how hard it is to fly for such a long period!"  
"Oh, sorry for that!"  
"Next time, try saving your own sorry ass! I´m still inexperienced!"  
"That´s no excuse to slam me onto the deck!"  
"You´re a fucking Logia! Stuff like this shouldn´t hurt you, yoi!"  
"You used Haki!"  
"Not a reason to set yourself on fire!"  
"I thought I was going to die!"  
Both men were grabbing at the others collar enraged - although Marco more likely grabbed at the strings of Aces hat - and looked like they were about to let loose, when a slight but deep coughing made them stop.  
"Are you alright, my sons?"

The pirates let go off the other and turned to face their father, whose look showed a worried expression at all the blood, which covered his dear children.  
Marco tried to adjust his jacket, which was already stiff from the dried fluid.  
"Everything´s alright, yoi..."  
Ace smiled up to the tall man, before he looked at his friend again, this time with a tender and warm expression on his face.  
"Don´t worry, it´s not my blood, Pops."

* * *

Hope you enjoyed and leave a review.


End file.
